Stop-watch.



STOP WATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19,1906.

2 SHEETS-:SHBET 1.

THE NORRIS PETE TUN D C No. 843,887. PATENTED FEB. 12, 1807.

A. GERSON. STOP WATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.19,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I fla'hivi Q2/ 002? ADOLPH GERSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STQP-WATGH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907'.

Application filed February 19, 1906. Serial No. 301,722.

1'0 (06/, whont it 'H'Mt con/writ.-

Be it known that I, AnoLPn GERsoN, a resident of New York city, countyand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Stop-Watches, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple positive combinationof parts which will be inexpensive for the operation and control of aseconds-hand or pointer of a stopwatch or chronograph.

My improvements are applicable to the ordinary watch-movements, and inthe accompanying drawings only enough of a watch mechanism is shown toshow an operative connection between my improvements and the movement.

1 will now proceed to describe my invention in connection with theaccompanying 1 drawings, forming part of this specification,

wherein- Figure 1 illustrates a face view of a watch, showing thepointer. Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear view of a watch embodying myimprovements, the bridge being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is anenlarged cross-section hereof, the section being taken on a line a a inFig. 2. Fig. 4- is an enlarged diagrammatic view of my improvements andshows the mechanism in the position following the throwing out of thepinion upon the rocking spindle. Fig. 5 is a detail view of thestarwheel. Fig. 6 is a detail fragmentary view of the idle gear,seconds-hand wheel, and the rocking spindle, which forms part of my improvement. Fig. 7 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of the position ofthe mechanism after having been operated to throw the pointer back tothe zero-point; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view of thewinding-stem and cooperative elements for operating the star-wheel.

Like numerals of reference indicate corre- 3 spending parts in theseveral views.

Reference belng had to Fig. 2, 1 indicates the ordinary watchcase, whichcontains the movement, which, together with other parts, i

(not shown) is composed of the usual balancewheel 2, having ahair-spring 3. The balance-wheel 2 operates the escapement 4, which inturn operates the escapementwheel 5, which, as usual, operates thesecondshand gear 6. The seconds-hand or pointer 7 is mounted upon aspindle 8, which in turn is fastened to an idle gear 9. Normally the l ll l l l l with the watch mechanism, and in order that the said idle gearcan be placed in communication with the mechanism I employ a rockingspindle 10, which carries pinions 11 and 12 and has its lower endsupported by a bracket 13. As will be seen by Fig. 6, the spindle 10 iscapable of a rocking movement toward or away from the idle gear 9. Thepinion 11 is meshed with the seconds-hand gear 6 permanently, the teethof the pinion 11 and gear 6 being sufficiently deep to permit of this;but aside from this fact the movement at the meshing-point of thesegears is very slight. The upper end of the spindle 10 is loosely fittedwithin the end of a lever 14, which is pivoted to the back 15 of thewatch, as at 16. The lever 14 is of a spe cialdesign and comprises themembers 17 and 18, the end of member 17 carrying the spindle 10 andbeing also provided with a spring-finger 19. The finger 19 impinges uponthe bridge 20, the end 21 of which receives the end of the idle-gearspindle 8. The member 8 of the lever 14 terminates in circular arm 22,which is concentric with the peripheral surfaces of the arms 23, 2 1,and 25 of a star-wheel 26. It will be seen by Fig. 5 that the arm 25 issomewhat shorter than the arms 23 and 24.

In the operation of my improvement there is but one point in therotation of the-starwheel 26 at which the pinion 12 will engage with theidle gear 9, and that point is illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein the shortarm 25 of the star-wheel 26 has been thrown into position with respectto the circular arm 22 to permit the lever 1 1- to be operated by thespring-fmger 19 thereupon, whereby the pinion 12 is caused to mesh withthe gear 9. In other words, in this figure the pinion 12 is meshed withthe idle gear 9. The purpose of the short arm 25 is to allow thespring-finger 19 to throw the pinion 12 into mesh with the idle gear 9.l i' hen the starwheel 26 is further rotated, the finger 24 will impingethe circular arm 22, and thereby operate the lever 14 and throw thepinion 12 out of mesh with the idle gear 9. (See full lines, Fig. 4-.)Fig. 4; illustrates the pointer 7 at rest and corresponds with theposition as illustrated in Fig. 1, which indicates thirty s conds.During the rotation of the star-wheel 26 from the position shown in Fig.2 to the position shown in Fig. ithe pin 27, which is carried by the arm23, travels in a slot 28, provided in one gear 9 is stationary and outof connection member 29 of a lever 30, the member 31 of lIC said leverterminating in a nose 32, which is designed to impinge upon a heart-cam33, fastened to the idle gear-spindle 8. When the star-wheel 26 isrotated from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig.4, the pin 27 will cause the nose 32 of the lever 30 to recede from thecam 33, and when the pinion 12 has been entirely thrown out the nosewill be in a position as shown by full lines in Fig. 4. Further movementof the star-wheel 26 will cause the lever 30 to impinge the heart-cam33, and a continued movement will cause the nose 32 to force the cam 33around to the Zero-point 34, which corresponds to the zero-point (onesecond) of the dial 35. (See Fig. 7.) When the cam 33 is at itsZero-point, one cycle of operations has been accomplished, and thiscycle is sub divided into three phases namely, starting the pointer,stopping the same, and returning it to the zero-point. When the arm 24has been carried from the position corresponding to the dotted-lineposition of the lever 30, the short arm 25 will come into place. Thespringfinger 19 will then throw the pinion 12 into mesh again and thepointer 7 will start. The starwheel 26 is pivoted, as at 36, to the back15 of the case 1, and the lever 29 is pivoted as at 37.

The hour-hand 38 and minute-hand 39 are operated in the usual manner. Tooperate the star-wheel 26, I make use of the longitudinally-movablewinding-stem 40, which is composed of the tube 40 and the spindle 40rotatably fitted in the said tube. A gear 41 transmits movement tomainspring of the watch from the spindle 40 by means of the pinion 42,which is held against longitudinal movement by the bracket 43, as shown.(See Fig. 8.) The pinion 42 is slidably fitted to the spindle 40", afeather 44 being employed to transmit movement thereto from the spindle40. The tube 40 is provided with a pin 45, which actuates the plate 46when the stem 40 is pressed inwardly, thereby actuating the rockingframe 48 by means of the pin 49 thereon. (See Fig. 7.) The frame 48 ispivoted to the watchcase, as at 50. A spring 51 serves to return theplate 46 and stem 40 after the said plate and stem have been released.The frame 48 is provided with fingers 52 and 53. The finger 52 rotatesthe star-wheel 26, and the finger 53 holds the said star-wheel against areturn movement after having been actuated (see Fig. 7) or when theframe 48, plate 46, and stem 40 have been returned by the spring 51.

The operation is as follows: hen the stem 40 is pushed inwardly, the pin45 upon the tube 40 will force the plate 46 inwardly, which will inturn, by means of the pin 49,

force it to the position occupied. by the arm 23. This action will, bythe reaction of the spring-linger 19, cause the pinion 12 to mesh withthe idle gear 9. The arm 25 is shorter than the other two arms, as hasbeen stated, and when the said arm 25 comes into position there isenough space between the periphery of said arm and the circular arm 22to permit the pinion 12 to be thrown into mesh with the gear 9. hen thestem 40 is released, the spring 51 will throw the frame 48, plate 46,and stem 40 back again, in which instance the linger 53 of theframe 48will b ear against the arm adjacent thereto and hold the star-wheelagainst backward movement, as in Fig. 7. 1t is obvious that when. thestem 40 is pressed inwardly the spindle 40 will slide in the pinion 42,and the said pinion will be held against lateral movement by the frame43. In order to wind. the mainspring, it is but necessary to turn thespindle 40 by means of the thumb-wheel, as is usual, the tube 40,however, remaining stationary.

To render clearer the operation of the starwheel 26 (see Fig. '7) by therocking frame 48, it will be understood that the arms 23, 24, and 25 arespaced about one hundred and twenty degrees apart, and the movement ofthe frame 48 is equal to about sixty degrees plus the movement requiredto bring the linger in contact with the arm 25, (in this instance.) Whenthe rocking frame 48 is pushed inwardly by the spindle 40, said -linger52 will strike the arm 25 and advance it partly to the position occupiedby the arm 23. This movement constitutes the inward travel of the finger23 and will be sufficient to advance the said arm 23 enough to permitthe finger 53 upon the return of the frame to get under the said arm 23and complete the movement of the star-wheel 26. In the meantime thefinger 52 will have been returning to its normal position. By bringingthe arm 23 to the aforesaid position the pinion 12 will again mesh withthe gear 9.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. In combination with awatch-movement provided with a longitudinallymovable winding-stem, an idle gear, a pointer operated by said gear, arocking spindle provided with a gear in mesh with the seconds-hand gearof said watch-movement, a pinion carried by said spindle adapted to meshwith said idle gear, a star-wheel having a plurality of arms ofdifferent lengths, a lever having at one end thereof a circular armadapted to impinge upon the periphery of the long arms of saidstar-wheel, said lever being pivoted intermediate of its ends andadapted to opercause the frame 48 to rock in such a manner ate saidrocking spindle and cause the pinion as to cause the finger 52 to strikeone of the l carried thereby to mesh with said idle gear arms of thestarwheel26. Referring to Fig. 1 when the short arm of said star-wheelis 7, the finger 52 would strike the arm 25 and brought adjacent to thecircular arm carried seasev by said lever, a heart-cam carried by saidwheel adapted to impinge upon said heartcam and throw said pointer to azero-point, and means operated by said stem adapted to operate saidstar-Wheel.

2. In combination with a watch-move- 2 ment provided with alongitudinally-nwvable Winding-stem, an idle gear, a pointer operated bysaid gear, a rocking spindle provided with a gear in mesh with theseconds.- hand gear of said Watch-movement, a pinion carried by saidspindle adapted to mesh with said idle gear, a star-Wheel having aplurality of arms of different lengths, a lever having at one endthereof a circular arm adapted to impinge upon the periphery of the longarms of said star-Wheel, said lever being pivoted intermediate of itsends and adapted to operate said rocking spindle and cause the pinionidle gear, a lever operated by the said star carried thereby to meshwith said idle gear when the short arm ol said star-wheel 1s broughtadjacent to the circular arm carried

